The Good Years Ch. 02

He did his signature pump fake in hopes of fooling our safeties. But what I had told Mike must have sunk in because he didn't bite on the fake. Nonetheless he threw the ball down field along the side lines to his best receiver. And I'm telling you, Mike did his best.

He sprinted over toward the side line and leaped in the air has high as he could but the ball went just over his finger tips and into the hands of the receiver. When Mike came down he bumped into our corner just enough to throw him off balance and therefore unable to catch their speedy receiver before he made it into the end zone.

Kenwood had tied the score at 17 all. Mike came off the field upset that he didn't make the play so I thought I should go try and cheer him up. "Look that was great effort out there. That's all you need to do, your best. I'll take that any day," I said trying to encourage him.

He just sat there with his head down and I hoped some of it got through to him. Our next drive we had a great kick return but couldn't move the ball much after that and had to settle for a field goal to re-take the lead 20-17. By then there was a little less then 10 minutes left in the game when we gave them the ball back. They didn't do anything on that drive and neither did we on our next.

With about 6 minutes to go they managed to move the ball down the field very well to get into our red zone. On the first play they ran a draw play up the middle and only gained 1 yard. On 2nd and 9 they called a screen pass to their running back in the right flat.

He caught the ball and broke a tackle but our defense swarmed to him to and only let him gain 3 yards. So it was 3rd and 6 on the 8 yard line. "Jeremy send end the signal for our zone blitz," Coach yelled at me. So I did.

I moved my arms in certain directions and touched certain areas on my body. Our middle linebacker flashed the sign to let me know that he got the play. Here we go. They hiked the ball and our defense executed the play perfectly, everyone did what they were supposed to do.

The quarterback dropped back to pass but didn't have a lot of time so he threw it to the corner of the end zone. He was wide open and I knew he was going to catch and they were going to take the lead. But out of nowhere Mike came and with a dive he tipped the ball away from the receiver to force fourth down. As they were kicking the field goal I went over to him on the bench.

"See I told you give it your best and see what happened," I said to him.

He started laughing and said, "yea man thanks I needed that little pep talk."

"No problem, just stay focused there's still time left in the game."

With the game tied at 20 we got the ball with 3 minutes to go. Their defense stopped us on three straight plays and we had to punt the ball. They got it back with 1:30 left in the game and I wasn't feeling too confident because I thought we should blow them out even with me and Brent not playing.

Then they started marching down the field with ease it seemed like and I was feeling even less confident and I started to second guess my decision to sit out the game. They were on our 40 yard line with 30 seconds to go. All they needed was 10 to 15 yards to go and they could kick a field goal to when it.

They got the 10 yards on the next play and only using 8 seconds to do it. They wanted to move the ball closer to have an easier field goal. And the next play they got about 5 yards and ran out of bounds with 12 seconds to go with 1 time-out left.

I thought they would just kick the field goal there but I guess they didn't have a real good kicker because they came out to run another play. I yelled to the safeties to not allow anything along the side lines but to make them throw down the middle.

And that's exactly were their receivers ran, an out route towards the side lines. The quarterback threw the ball to the receiver coming toward our benches. Mike read it perfectly and timed it just right to jump in front of the receiver to pick it off.

He tipped toed down the line a little before getting his balance and raced down the sideline. As he passed us we yelled for him to keep going and the normal encouraging things you say when you're real excited. He made one cut back towards the middle of the field to avoid the quarterback who was now trying to tackle him.

He ran by the QB with ease and crossed the goal line as time expired winning the game for us 26-20. The team mobbed him on the field celebrating.

"Whatever you've said to him tonight really helped Jeremy, you're a good teammate. When the college scouts start coming around in a month I'm going to make sure they know that," Coach said to me.

I just smiled and said "thanks coach."

"Go on get out of here go celebrate with your teammates," he told me. I smiled and nodded slightly then left him.

"Umm Jeremy I kinda have a favor to ask of you," Sam said as she walked up to me.

"Yea sure what is it?" I asked.

"Well Mary sort of told Mike that I wanted to go out with even though I don't. I guess she was serious about finding me a guy," she said.

"Ok well where do I come in?" I asked.

"I was wondering if I could bring him over your house tomorrow for the cookout. It's not that he isn't a nice guy or anything, we just don't have a lot in common and he could talk with you guys about the team. Plus he's just not really my type, you know the blonde surfer dude look," she said.

And I had to agree, Mike did have that surfer/skateboarder look to him. "Yea sure you can bring him it's no big deal," I told her.

"Ok thanks Jeremy, I really appreciate it," she said with a big smile.

I smiled back and said "you're welcome. By the way have you seen Mary?" I said.

"She left just a few minutes ago why?" she asked.

"We were supposed to be hanging out afterward. I wonder why she left early," I said.

"I don't know either. She didn't say anything to me other then about Mike. Maybe you should call her and find out," she said.

"Good idea, gimme a second." I tried calling her but she didn't pick up her phone so I left a message to have her call me when she got the message. "She's not answering so I guess I don't have any plans tonight. What are you up to tonight?" I asked Sam.

"I don't have any plans either. Why, what do you have in mind," she said.

I actually wasn't implying that should do something together but I figured why not. "Well umm I guess we could go back to my house and watch a movie or something, like we did as kids you know like old times," I said.

"Really, that be great we haven't done that in so long," she said rather excitedly.

"Why don't you go tell Mike about tomorrow then meet me at my car and we'll go to my house," I said.

"Ok be right back," she replied. She met up with me in the parking lot a few minutes later.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

"Yep let's go," she said.

We got in the car and headed for my house. "What did Mike say about the cookout tomorrow?" I asked her. She started laughing and I was confused.

"What's so funny?"

"When I told Mike about tomorrow and I asked if he wanted to come his jaw dropped and just stared at me for like 20 seconds. I guess he didn't believe Mary," she said.

"Well technically he's right, it was Mary just going off and making it up," I said.

"Yea I know but he didn't. Anyway he finally answered me and stuttered for like a minute before he said yes. It actually was kinda cute."

Now I can't figure out for the life of me why but when she said it was "kinda cute" I felt jealous. I mean there had been a few times in the last couple years that Sam was into a guy but I never felt jealous. Why all of a sudden did I feel like this? While I was trying to figure all this out I pulled into the driveway and we got out and walked into my house.

"Mom I'm home," I yelled.

"How was the game, oh hi Sam I haven't seen you around in awhile," my mom said as we walked into the living room.

"Hi Ms. Laura it's nice to see you again. I know I haven't been around in a while but that's because somebody over here hasn't invited me over," she said as she nudged me with her elbow.

"Yea Jeremy what's wrong with you to stop bringing a beautiful young lady around the house?" my mom said jokingly.

"Oh don't worry Ms. Laura his new girlfriend is coming to the cookout tomorrow," Sam said. I would have really liked her to not have said that since I haven't told my parents about Mary yet.

"Oh really who is this "new girlfriend" Jeremy?" But before I could answer Sam did for me. And so Sam went on telling my mother all about Mary. See my mom and Sam had this thing were they would talk to me and ask me questions but the other would answer and I could never get a word in.

I did manage to get out "I'm gonna go get the movie now." When I left the room I could hear them laughing. I just smiled, shook my head and kept walking.

We had decided in the car that we would watch Transformers so I went and got and came back into the living room. "Ok I got the movie."

"Alright I'll leave you guys alone now. Do you want anything to eat or drink Sam?" my mom asked.

"No thanks I'm fine."

"Ok well everything is in the same place as it's always been so help yourself to whatever you want."

"Thanks," Sam said in reply. The movie started and we settled onto the couch. We drifted back to the way we were as kids and she snuggled in close to me like she use to. About half way during the movie she said she was cold so I got a blanket for her.

She curled up underneath the blanket and back into the side of me. I put my arm around her to help warm her up. We stayed like that the rest of the movie, her curled up under my arm. During the last scene where the two main characters are making out on the top of the car a weird feeling came over me.

Something that I hadn't felt ever before, especially with Sam. It was like I wanted to do the same with her. Just to kiss her. In my whole life that I knew her I'd never once thought about kissing her until now and I couldn't figure out why.

I turned my head to look at her and at almost the same time she turned to look at me. I was looking down into her beautiful blue eyes, her staring back at me.

You know when people say they got lost in someone's eyes, well that's what happened to me. Before I knew it she was moving toward me and before my brain reacted I leant down to meet her. She closed her eyes as our lips met.

They were so soft, softer than Mary's who I thought had soft lips. Her lips parted slightly and I did the same as her tongue slowly slipped into my mouth. I suckled it a little and a soft moan escaped her lips.

We continued a few more seconds and something in her brain triggered and she realized what we were doing. "Oh my god I shouldn't have done that! I'm so sorry Jeremy I didn't mean to."

My mind was still frozen as I couldn't get any coherent words out. "Look I got to go... I'm sorry." And out the door she went. I was still frozen and didn't know how to react at what just happened.

For a moment I thought about her going home alone at night, but she only lived a few houses down the street so I hoped she'd be ok. And plus I figured I was one of, if not the last persons she wanted to see right now. Well the cookout should definitely be interesting tomorrow.

The next morning came too soon and I dragged myself out of bed and down the stairs for something to eat. After breakfast I took a shower and got dressed for the day. I was helping my parents set up for the cookout when Mary called me.

"Hi Jeremy," she said.

"Hey baby. What happened to you last night? Why'd you leave early?" I asked her.

"My grandmother got sick and was rushed to the hospital last night and when I found out I left and went to the hospital."

"Oh wow I'm sorry to hear that. How is she doing?" I asked concerned.

"She's ok for now but she may not stay that way. I'm not going to be able to make it today I need to stay here with my family, sorry."

"Oh no don't be. I hope she gets better. I'll call you tonight ok," I said.

"Ok thanks Jeremy. You really are a great guy, bye."

"Bye," I said as she hung up the phone.

"Oh Jeremy was that Mary? Is she still coming?" my mother asked me.

"Her grandmother was rushed to the hospital last night so no she can't make it."

"Oh my goodness what happened?"

"She didn't say other than she got sick," I replied.

"Oh well when you talk to her again tell her I hope her grandma gets better."

"Ok mom I will."

Tim and Tanya were the first people to show up. They were actually really early, getting here around 12:30. "What the heck? The party doesn't start for another hour and a half," I said as Tim walked into the backyard.

"Yea man I know but Tanya wanted to get here early to help setup," he said.

"So why did you have to come early? She could have come on her own."

He just looked at me like, "that's I stupid

question you know why I'm here."

"Oh yea that's right." I then mimicked the sound of a whip cracking.

"Yea whatever dude, just tell me what I can do to help."

I had him help me set up some chairs around the yard and on the deck. "Dude I think I might have messed up with Sam."

"Sam? How would you mess things up with her?" he asked.

"Look you can't tell anyone not even Tanya, got it?"

"Yea man I won't tell, what's up?" he asked. So I told him how Mary left the game early and I didn't have any plans for the night because of it. That Sam and I decided to come back to my house to hang out. That we watched a movie curled up underneath a blanket.

"Wait, what were you doing underneath a blanket with Sam?"

"She was cold so I got here a blanket and I put my arm around her to warm her up and we just stayed like that for the rest of the movie," I said. Then I told him of the feelings that I started having for her at the time and that I looked at her and she looked at me. And that we kissed.

"What! You kissed Sam!" he said a little too loud for what I would have liked.

"Keep your voice down man you know Tanya has big ears," I said.

"Dude you know Sam is going to tell her anyway."

"If she finds out from Sam that's ok, but she's not going to from me or you."

"What freaking movie were you watching to get you're feelings all stirred up like that?" he asked.

I chuckled a little, "Transformers."

"Watching Transformers made you want to kiss Sam!"

"Look I'm just saying that it happened. I didn't plan to kiss her but I did. And I have no idea how she's gonna react today if she even comes at all," I said.

"I think she'll be here anyway," he said.

"Well if she does show up act normal like you don't know what happened."

"Yea sure no problem. I just can't believe that you kissed Sam dude."

"Yea I can't either," I replied. "Ok that's all we need to do out here so let's go see if my mom needs anything else done."

There wasn't much else that needed to be done so we just sat around and talked for a while waiting for people to show up. Finally 2pm came and people started to show up.

I made the rounds with my parents welcoming everyone to our house and going through the "look how much you've grown" and the "you're turning into a very fine young man" by some of the people my dad works with. It was nearly 3pm and still no sign of Sam, I started to worry even more that I had royally fucked things up between us.

However around quarter after three I spotted her and Mike walk into the backyard. "Look there's Sam she must have just got here. Dude what should I do?" I asked Tim.

"I'd say just act normal like nothing happened. If she acts weird or brings it up then deal with it, but for now just try to ignore it."

As he finished saying this Sam and Mike walked up to us. "Hey guys. Sorry we're late Jeremy," Sam said.

"Don't worry about it. Hey Mike what's up."

"Hey Jeremy, Tim."

"Hey Mike," Tim said to Mike.

"Tim where's Tanya?" Sam asked

"She's around here somewhere," he said.

"Ok well I'm going to go find her. Cya in a little while." She said.

"Cya," the three of us said.

"So ah Jeremy you don't mind me going out with Sam do you?" Mike asked.

"Umm no I don't care. You don't have to ask me for permission or anything we're just friends," I said.

"Oh well I know you two have always been close and I didn't know how you would feel. But if you don't care then ok," he said.

"Yea go ahead I don't mind." I really didn't mind since I knew that she didn't really like him and she was just doing it for Mary. Although why should I care who she dated. We never even dated. Oh well Mary is my girlfriend and Sam is a friend, I kept telling myself.

"Anyway Mike, there's food up there on the deck and some drinks there too. Help yourself to anything," I said.

"Ok Jeremy thanks," he replied.

"Sam didn't seem to act too weird or anything," Tim said as Mike walked away.

"Yea she seemed to be acting normal, hopefully she stays like that," I said.

SAM

"Ok here we go," I thought as me and Mike walked into Jeremy's backyard. I still can't believe I kissed him last night. What in the world was I doing, he has a girlfriend. He knows that I have feelings for him I didn't have to go and kiss him. I hope he doesn't act weird around me or avoid me.

"Hey guys. Sorry we're late Jeremy," Sam said.

"Don't worry about it," he said. The guys said their hellos.

"Tim where's Tanya?" I asked.

"She's around here somewhere," he said.

"Ok guys cya later," I said. Then I walked off to find Tanya. "Hey Tanya can we go talk somewhere," I said as I gave her a hug.

"Hey Sam, umm yea sure lets go into the house," she said. We walked into the house and into the den.

"Ok so last night me and Jeremy came back here after the game to hang out and watch a movie. So we start the movie and it's going fine, I tell him I'm cold and the nice guy he is gets me a blanket. He puts the blanket over me and wraps his arm around me to keep me warm."

"Aww," Tanya said softly.

"Yea I know. Anyway so I he puts his arm around me and I snuggle into the side of him. The movie is just about over and out of the corner of my eye I see him looking at me. So I turn my head to look at him and he's just staring into my eyes. I gaze back at him then I move my head towards his and..."

"Oh my god no you didn't," Tanya said with her jaw dropping slightly.

"Yea I did or we did. We kissed for a few moments and it was the best kiss I've ever had. I mean when I kissed him I felt like I was in love."

"So what did you guys do?" Tanya asked.

"I like freaked out and left," I said.

"Why did you freak out? He kissed you back right?" she asked.

"Well yea but... well I don't know. He does have a girlfriend so I guess I thought of her and I just stopped."

"Have you two talked since last night?" she asked.

"No not yet. I'm kinda trying to avoid the whole situation, and I'm sure he's trying to do the same thing," I said.

"Well I think you should. You never know maybe that kiss knocked some sense into him and made him realize that he has feelings for you," Tanya said.

"Yea I know we probably should but I don't really want to. Let's go back out there since I am supposed to be with Mike. Oh and don't say anything to Tim about it ok?"

"Yea sure I won't. But I'm sure Jeremy has told him by now," she said.

I sighed and said, "I know but let's try and avoid it." We made our way back out to the guys after that.

Jeremy

Soon after Mike left to get some food, Brent came in the backyard hobbling on crutches. "Hey Brent what are you doing here? I thought you had to wait a few more days to start getting around?" I asked.

"My leg is healing faster than the doctor thought so he said I could start moving around some. Plus I was bored and I needed to get out of the house," he said.